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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoTONY DEJAK | ASSOCIATED PRESSA jubilant Jason Giambi circles the bases after leading off the bottom of the ninth inning with the winning home run. It was his 436th career homer and ninth career walk-off shot.

CLEVELAND — Jason Giambi still had the chills long after he shook Progressive Field.

Giambi hit a pinch-hit home run leading off the bottom of the ninth inning, a towering shot to
center field that sent the Cleveland Indians to their fifth straight win, 3-2 over the Chicago
White Sox last night.

Batting for Mark Reynolds, Giambi belted a 1-and-1 pitch from Ramon Troncoso (1-3) into the
bushes beyond the fence. It was the 436th career homer and ninth career walk-off shot for the
42-year-old slugger, who had a bucket of ice water dumped over his head by teammates.

“I might catch pneumonia,” he joked. “I’m a little old to be dunked with water. I love it. I’ve
been preaching all year one guy is not more important than another and it’s going to take all 25 of
us, even more than that, to win ballgames and we’ve done it all year. It’s just exciting to be a
part of it.”

According to STATS, Giambi is the oldest player in major league history to hit a walk-off homer,
surpassing Hank Aaron, who was 45 days younger than Giambi when he did it in 1976.

Closer Chris Perez (3-1) pitched the ninth, allowing a two-out triple to Dayan Viciedo but
stranded the go-ahead run when left fielder Michael Brantley made a sensational running catch for
the third out.

With their 10th win in 14 games, the Indians moved within 21/2 games of the idle Detroit Tigers
for first place in the American League Central.

The sinking White Sox have lost four straight and 10 of 13.

Giambi’s dramatic shot — and postgame bath — provided more memorable snapshots for the Indians,
who are making a strong push as August approaches. Cleveland is keeping the pressure on the Tigers
as well as injecting themselves into the wild-card discussion.

As he rounded third, Giambi smiled when he saw his teammates awaiting his arrival at the plate.
He leaped into their welcome-home party and nearly had his jersey pulled off in the
celebration.

“That’s what keeps you coming back,” Giambi said. “There is no moment more special than when you
get that embrace from your teammates and all those smiles. It’s exciting.”

Perez got the first two outs in the ninth before Viciedo hit a sinking liner that skipped past
right fielder Ryan Rabun and rolled all the way to the wall. Center fielder Michael Bourn hustled
over threw it quickly to the infield, preventing Viciedo from trying for an inside-the-park
homer.

Gordon Beckham followed with a line drive to left that Brantley ran down and snared with an
overhead catch to keep it tied 2. When he got back to the dugout, Brantley was greeted by several
of his teammates and a thankful Perez.

“I thought it was off the wall,” said Perez, who patted his heart as he walked to the
dugout.

The Indians got another strong outing from a starter as Zach McAllister allowed just two runs
and five hits in seven innings. Cleveland’s starters came in with a 1.79 ERA in the past 16
games.

The Indians’ streak of 26 consecutive scoreless innings ended in the sixth.

Blanked by McAllister for the first five innings, the White Sox scored twice with two outs on
Adam Dunn’s RBI double and Paul Konerko’s run-scoring single.

It was the first run given up by the Indians since the eighth inning on Friday. Cleveland posted
consecutive shutouts over the weekend against Texas, and leads the majors with 14 shutouts.